MSc Civil Engineering

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Deepen your knowledge, increase your understanding, and develop skills in Civil Engineering, in preparation for a career in industry, commerce or academia.

Overview

The MSc in Civil Engineering builds on our renowned research expertise and industrial experience in current aspects of Civil Engineering. It is designed both for people pursuing a higher degree soon or immediately after obtaining their first degree, and for those with considerable work experience.

Dundee is a pre-eminent centre for Civil Engineering with internationally-renowned research groups in concrete technology, fluid mechanics, geotechnical engineering, lightweight and deployable structures, and construction management.

Professional Accreditation: ICE/IStructE

This programme is accredited by the Institution of Civil Engineers (ICE), Institution of Structural Engineers (IStructE), and the Chartered Institution of Highways and Transportation (CIHT) and the Institute of Highway Engineers (IHE) at Chartered Engineer (CEng) Level. The programme is accredited as follows:

This degree is accredited as meeting the requirements for Further Learning for a Chartered Engineer (CEng) for candidates who have already acquired a partial CEng accredited undergraduate first degree. See www.jbm.org.uk for further information. The programme is accredited as a Technical MSc.

Top for research

Civil Engineering at Dundee is ranked top in Scotland for research. You will have the opportunity to engage with leading edge research at Dundee, meaning we attract students of the highest calibre and our graduates are highly sought after by employers worldwide. Students studying on our masters programmes benefit from our renowned research expertise and industry experience.

Our state-of-the-art facilities

We have recently undertaken a major upgrade of laboratory facilities particularly in the areas of Concrete Technology and Geotechnical Engineering, thanks to an investment of £1.8M from the European Regional Development Fund and the University to create the Scottish Marine Renewables Test (SMART) Centre for Concrete and Geotechnics. This has resulted in new state-of-the-art commercial grade experimental equipment being commissioned, strengthening our capability in these research areas and enhancing our capacity for experimentally focused work.

The University of Dundee is home to a state-of-the-art geotechnical centrifuge, only one of three in Europe capable of earthquake replication. The purpose of the centrifuge is to enable small scale models of geotechnical structures such as tunnels, foundations or retaining walls to be tested under the high-stress conditions experienced by these structures at full scale. This is achieved by increasing gravity. The Dundee centrifuge is 3m radius and capable of carrying models up to 1000 kg mass and at accelerations up to 100 times earth’s gravity. Whilst “in flight”, various additional loads can be applied to the models, including earthquake shaking, large scale fault rupture, environmental wetting/drying, and translational and rotational loading can be applied using our robot.

Who should study this course?

This course is designed both for people pursuing a higher degree soon or immediately after obtaining their first degree, and for those with considerable work experience.

Teaching Excellence Framework (TEF)

The University of Dundee has been given a Gold award – the highest possible rating – in the 2017 Teaching Excellence Framework (TEF).

Core Modules

Carrying out a literature search. Analysing literature. Writing a literature review. Quantitative and qualitative approaches to research. Planning a research project. Planning a presentation. Delivering a presentation. Statistical analysis of data. Hypothesis testing. Preliminary work on your research project.

Background to legislation: safety statistics; causes of accidents. Framework of Health and Safety Legislation. The Health and Safety at Work Act; CDM Regulations; COSHH, Construction Regulations Managing Construction Health and Safety. Implementing the CDM regulations. International and Governmental Environment Policy and Targets. What is Sustainable Construction? Minimisation of Construction Waste and Pollution Prevention Guidelines on Construction and Demolition Sites. Environmental Assessment Methods, eg ISO 14000 and BREEAM (BRE Environment Assessment Method). Use of Recycled Materials in Production of Cement and Concrete. ‘Brown’ Land Remediation with cement. Examples of Best Practice for Recycling, Reuse and Reconstitution. Site visit to review the use of recycled materials in concrete production.

10 credits

Specialist Modules

Students on the MSc in Civil Engineering can take any four specialist modules, subject to approval of the Programme Convenor and timetabling constraints. The four modules must not all come from the same specialist grouping.

Review of the nature of concrete in structures. Overview of the causes and mechanisms of deterioration of concrete. Chemical attack. Corrosion of reinforcement. Physical and mechanical attack. Production of durable concrete: Mix constituents and composition. Integrating durability into design: British and European standards, design, detailing, and workmanship. Theoretical evaluation of potential durability of structural concrete. Test methods for evaluating potential durability of structural concrete. Environmental Benefits of Durable Concrete Construction.

Review of common defects in concrete and concrete structures and their effect on serviceability. Inspection, Testing and Assessment of Concrete Structures. Performance and Integrity Testing.

Carrying out a literature search. Analysing literature. Writing a literature review. Quantitative and qualitative approaches to research. Planning a research project. Planning a presentation. Delivering a presentation. Statistical analysis of data. Hypothesis testing. Preliminary work on your research project.

The aim of the project is to allow students to undertake a substantial, individual programme of research, either experimental, analytical, in-depth survey, or on-site, which addresses a specific engineering problem. The topic of the project will be related to the student’s MSc specialism.

The project will enable students to put into practice skills learnt in some or all of the Core modules, and to build upon the knowledge and understanding gained in the specialist modules.

60 credits

Careers

There is a continuing demand for civil engineers particularly in the energy and water sectors and the skills of the civil engineer are highly portable in the multi-disciplinary engineering sectors. The Institution of Civil Engineers Salary Survey for the UK (2013) indicates that the average total income of its senior members is over £117k, while that of recent graduates is £23k increasing to nearly £30k after five years.

We are proud of our achievements in graduate employment. The blend of science, technology and management education and training gained in a unique learning environment that is both challenging and friendly, makes our graduates attractive to employers in civil engineering and a wider range of sectors.

Graduates from Dundee have gone on to achieve high level positions in most sectors of the profession. These include consulting engineers and contractors, the offshore industry and research organisations.

“The lecturers are very approachable and I’ve particularly enjoyed the lectures, which have clear relevance to the real world and professional expectations. I’ve also benefited from the University’s Career Service and, after a career-enhancing summer internship in China, I’ve returned to Dundee for my final year of studying.”

Entry Requirements

Applicants should normally have, or expect to have an honours degree at 2.2 or above, or equivalent professional or overseas qualifications, in a relevant academic discipline. For applicants with a non-technical degree, they should hold a 2:1 honours degree or above, and their suitability for one of the MSc programmes will be considered on a case-by-case basis.

English Language Requirement

English Language Programmes

We offer Pre-Sessional and Foundation Programme(s) throughout the year. These are designed to prepare you for university study in the UK when you have not yet met the language requirements for direct entry onto a degree programme.